Flatfoot Access Festival celebrates 21 years of dance and transformation
In celebration of National Disability Rights Awareness Month, the Flatfoot Dance Company and the Stable Theatre presents its third annual Flatfoot Access Festival.
From November 25 to 30, the festival will offer workshops, panel discussions and performances.
This year's festival celebrates Flatfoot's 21-year history of interacting with people with disabilities through their work in professional development and dance education.
Flatfoot’s artistic director Lliane Loots shared: “It is a glorious moment of celebrating not just the incredible dancers, dance makers and choreographers participating, but of the truly transformative power of dance to bind society together and empower a sense of community.”
Flatfoot’s Downie Dance Company, which has been running for eight years with a focus on dancers with Down Syndrome, will be performing “Time Spent …”, a new work created by Loots.
The show will immerse the audience in the complexities of relationships and friendships, as well as the dynamics of social circles.
Another group, Flatfoot Access Panthers will perform the dance production “Songs of the Soul.”
The festival also features guests WACO’s Dance Movement who will be performing two incredible works, “Coloured Boy” and “Serendipity”, with choreography by Jarryd Watson.
Dance Movement is a dance project that gives access to children and youth, artists, dancers, choreographers and people living with disabilities, to dance training and skills development based in the South Durban area of Wentworth.
Johannesburg based multi-award winning dance-maker, Gladys Agulha will also be at the festival, working on a collaboration called, “The Dance In Me”, together with four Durban dancers.
“Gladys is one of the pioneers of integrated dance in South Africa and we are delighted to be hosting her”, said Loots.
It will be staged on November 29 and 30.
Giving readers a sneak peak into the production, Agulha shared that the piece is a “journey of moving bodies gently excavating treasures of dance from within the archives of their own dancer's bodies, intertwining through conversations of dance, about dance for dance”.
Agulha will also hold the free inclusive workshop, titled “The dancer in Me … What does it say?” on Thursday, November 28, at 2pm to 4pm.
“Participants will be taken on a journey that engages some important principles around self-care, the sense of touch, resistance and receptivity within both personal space and general spaces,” shared a statement.
Bookings for this workshop are essential. To book email lootsl@ukzn.ac.za.
Another exciting addition to the festival is its first digital engagement through a collaboration with Ethiopian dancer Amanuel Solomon.
Solomon, a professional dancer and choreographer, is the founder of Katim Disability Dance, the first company in Ethiopia led by a dancer living with a disability.
“Understanding the costs, both financial and environmental, of artistic exchange across the African content, this festival has set out to connect and share practice via digital spaces,” said Loots.
Solomon is a professional dancer and choreographer and founder of Katim Disability Dance, the first company in Ethiopia led by a disabled dancer.
“Katim is a mixed ability company that have often performed at the National Theatre in Ethiopia. They also run an integrated dance festival, and work on dance therapy projects in eight disabled schools, engaging intellectual disability, deaf, blind and mobility-limited students,” read the statement.
In this free open online workshop, Solomon and his team will introduce the ground-breaking dance work they do in Ethiopia focusing on how dance links with monologues as a way of creating a sense of identity and belonging.
Solomon’s workshop will be held on Wednesday, November 27 at 2pm.
Interested people can either watch online or in person at the Stable Theatre. Email Loots for more details.
Where: The Stable Theatre.
When: November 25 to 30.
Cost: Tickets are R80 and can be purchased through Computicket. The Stable Theatre is wheelchair-friendly venue.
“Alive”
Comedian Aaron McIlroy will perform his show, “Alive”, in support of a fundraising event for the non-profit organisation, iThemba Lethu.
iThemba Lethu is an organisation that is building hope in children, youth and families, through reunification, adoption, life-skills education and economic development.
All proceeds from the event will benefit iThemba Lethu, which is dedicated to uplifting the Cato Manor community.
Bring your family and friends and enjoy an evening of laughter and good food. Picnic baskets are permitted or can be purchased at the venue.
Where: The Station Urban Event Space.
When: Wednesday, November 20, at 7pm.
Cost: Tickets are R180 and can be purchased through Webtickets.